Rainstorm
by Zilindico
Summary: Carol bursts free of Toluca Lake, finding herself in Silent Hill. How did she get here? How does it involve her wretched husband and infant son? Why did the thought of drowning occur? What's happening? What's going on?


Disclaimer: I don't own Silent Hill or the original concept, but I do own this story and everything inside except for aspects previously contained within the game, meaning my characters, the monsters, and the storyline.   
I should make you aware that, while most other SH fanfic authors merely duplicate the monsters from the games and have some of their characters run around screaming, I believe the plot analysis done by a person by the alias of President Evil, saying that all the monsters are the representation of one's inner demons, which is why you will see all new monsters within this story, one more horrifying than most. 

"There are no heroes, only pawns in a play, everything out of place."   
  
  
In a cold fog covering a blue lake in a gray day, Carol's form burst through the surface of the water, cold and silent except for her gasping breaths. She appeared as if a deep diver who had fought to return to the surface, yet the only sounds, out of this world or her actions, were her hard breaths, those desperate for air to refill her lungs. The water was eerily silent, even as she struggled frantically with it to stay afloat. There were no sounds of animals, nor weather, nor her heart beat, only her breathing. She was in such a panicked state, that the water seemed to keep dragging her down, her sight altering between endless blue and a short pier connecting to moss-covered dirt. Water continued filling her mouth over and over as she fought to empty the fluid from her lungs and replace it with precious air.   
Fighting against the cold, desperate to survive, her tired limbs finally brought her to the pier. Her freezing arms finally covered the long rope tied to one end of the dark, wooden structure. The soft waves of the lake pressed against her with light force, but every little touch felt like daggers striking her body, threatening to drag her back in by force. With a strained effort, she dragged herself onto the pier, her breathing remaining the same as it had been in the water. The only sound coming to her ears was still her labored breaths...   
After an extended moment, she stood upright and attempted to stare through the fog. The wind pounding against her body, she sighted the Lake View Hotel just barely in the gloom. There she could find help...   
With exhausted steps, Carol proceeded up the creaking bridge, past the rusted gates, and into the large yard area. Bird-shaped fountains resided on either side, but she disregarded them as she paced forward, too distraught to comprehend anything else.   
The old door of the hotel creaked loudly as she opened it to face the darkness within. The lighting was terribly dim, causing her to stumble a bit more, trying to find her way. Strange music, almost dissonance from her place here, seemed to be coming from some part of the hotel, but she ignored it, moving past the Cafe "Toluca" and the stairs, going directly to the bathroom. The door offered resistance, but finally gave way to her effort.   
Rust covered every inch of the tiny room, corroding and breaking down every tile and sink and toilet. She quickly turned on the cold water and washed her face, glad to find relief at last. After a moment, she finally stared into the mirror. Horrible, blue eyes stared back at her through long, red hair that fell along her soaked, shredded, azure dress. Why was she alive...? Wait, where was she, exactly? Oh yes, Silent Hill. But why did she come back here? Something about that dick of a husband of hers, maybe, or was it involving water, and her bastard son? Did it matter? Maybe, but she might have to run if she remembered something.   
A sudden knocking shifted her attention to one of the stalls. Was someone there? Was someone else after her, trying to get her, wanting to hurt her? She backed away nervously, even as the knocking increased to a frantic pounding. A blood-curdling scream accompanied the door's free-willed slam once she dropped to the floor outside. Oh God, it sounded so much like her... What was that music?   
Carol eventually rose from the floor and moved back near the entrance of the hotel, this time entering the lobby. The red-and-orange carpeting was partially illuminated by the fog, as were the plush chairs and small tables and lamps. She followed the strange melody to a peculiar, large music box. The wood was expert craftmanship, and the gold circle inside, whatever that was called, was certainly well made. Maybe the music was soothing, but nothing felt right at the moment. Why was she in Silent Hill? What had she been drowning? Drowning... Drowning... What had that to do with her family?   
Crawling; skittering... She looked up to the source of the noise, finding it staring back at her from atop the music box. Her heart stopped upon seeing the large spider, but her mind felt insane upon the realization that the eight legs were emerging from a decaying creature similar in form to a human infant. What on Earth...?   
The demon monster leapt forward, and only a lucky swipe was able to knock it aside. Starting to retch from the sight of the hideous creature, Carol was terrified to find more of the things crawling along the ceiling and the walls, down the stairs and over the furniture. Impulse sent her flying for the exit, flinging the door open and slamming it shut behind herself. Having returned to the outside, she was startled by the freezing rain that was beginning to fall and sting her skin, but then more by the spider-babies crashing through the windows on either side of her.   
She cried out as she hurried through the open grass area. Fountains resembling angels were on this side, and they almost seemed to taunt her as she ran screaming into the all-consuming fog. Why was she being haunted?   
A tree root must have burst from the ground in front of her, for she did not see it before tripping over the accursed thing. No! She was going to be killed for her sins!   
"Are you all right?"   
A man's soft voice coaxed her to uncurl from her fetus position and stare up at him. He was a few years younger than her twenty-seven, though much more attractive. He was dressed in simple clothes, his hazel hair and eyes matching his shirt. He wore a soothing expression, one she felt she had not seen in years, so perhaps that was why she trusted him enough to rise.   
He repeated his question, prompting her to turn around madly and shout, "Didn't you see the horrible children!?"   
Her frantic gaze revealed nothing, only broken glass where the windows had been. Was she losing her mind? Had she not seen those terrible creatures?   
Finally, her mind regathering and her hair in a mess, she faced him and demanded rather coldly, "Who are you? Why are you here in the rain?"   
His expression unwavering, he explained, "I'm Richard. I heard you screaming, so I came to save you from whatever was frightening you."   
Carol shook her head and covered her face with one hand; yeah right, she thought. What a pompous fool.   
"Is that so?" she accused. "Well, you can keep your saving. Leave me the hell alone."   
The last thing she wanted was another burden in her life, another male depending on her or killing her, sucking the life out of her. She started walking past him, holding herself in the rain, then paused upon hearing him ask, "Why do you contain so much angst towards your family?"   
She squeezed her fists in the air, her anger rising; just like her husband, he would not leave her alone. Carol whipped around to scream at him, finding instead a huge, lumbering monstrosity certainly planning to kill her. Its basic form was human male, but it was grossly disfigured and discolored like the spider-babies, only this creature was nearly twice her height, with arms like gorillas'.   
Roaring like the voice of God, the gigantic creature swung its powerful arms at one of the angel fountains, shattering it into fragments. Tiny shards flew out and cut her skin, sending her wretched blood into the air. Carol screamed with pain as she rotated again and ran away from the demon. Her feet feeling numb, she darted through the painful rain, trying desperately to escape, always trying to escape...   
_It was raining like this the day I--_   
Reaching the street before the hotel--Sanford Street--her train of thought was interrupted upon seeing more of those horrifying spider-babies crawling down the street on her left. She shook her head to the sight and dashed the other way. She wanted to get away, always wanted to get away, tired of running, always running until...   
There were the sounds of footsteps ahead mingling with endless legs behind her. How many of them were there? Her body burned as she pushed herself on into the fog, fighting against the rain. Pain shooting through her legs, her breathing becoming more desperate, the march of death behind her finally slowed to a stop, leaving only the footsteps approaching from the front. Who was coming to claim her life?   
From the choking mist stepped two men, both dressed in blue. Despite her instant fear, she quickly recognized both of them to be police officers, their badges glinting from the rain. The older one, a middle-aged man starting to gray, said, "Finally, we found someone."   
The younger one, a man in his mid-twenties with black hair, asked her, "Miss, are you all right?"   
_Police... Why are there police here?_   
Carol glanced back again, worried that more creatures could be approaching.   
"M--Miss?" The younger officer seemed increasingly nervous. Perhaps they had run into a few monsters, themselves.   
She finally shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts, though it did no good. "I'm... I'm fine. Why are you here?"   
The two officers looked at each other, then back at her, the older officer explaining, "We're here from Brahms, the next town over. Another officer called for backup, and we came here, only now our police car's dead and, well, look around."   
True; the weather, as well as the monsters, was definitely abnormal. What was going on in Silent Hill? Why was this happening? Why was she--   
"Ma'am?" The older officer caught her attention, distracting her from streaming thoughts. "I think you should come with us, just to be safe."   
No, not again; she would not go with them. She was running from the police, was she not, or, or maybe... She clutched her head, growing so confused. What...   
Choosing, she ran forward, moving past the officers, desperate to lose them in the fog. She wanted to be alone, did not want anyone, not them, not her family, not herself... She heard them shouting, but could not hear their footsteps; was it always like that?   
The sound of a gun firing, and the faint billboard to her left was broken in half. Her eyes traced both directions, and to her right she saw them worse than ever: shadows, and they were shooting at her, trying to kill her. She was so afraid of being chased, being hunted, being killed...   
The bullet's continued firing, ripping up the street behind her and shredding apart the sporadic cars parked about, metal shearing, glass shattering, concrete cracking. Everything was coming apart around her, screaming pain, darkness insanity. She was tired of being afraid...   
Sharp pain shot through her the moment she ran hard into a vehicle concealed by the growing fog. As she laid upon the wet hood of the police car, the slow realization came to her that the gunfire had ended. Had she been imagining everything? Was she insane?   
"You have to stop running from everything." His voice caused her to panic and slide to the ground, growing colder in the increasing rain. After a moment, she saw Richard standing over her, a complacent expression upon his face. Why was he here? Why was he bothering her?   
"I can't stop running." she told him.   
"You have nothing to be afraid of."   
What!? She leapt to her feet and screamed, "Are you insane!? I'm being chased by spiders resembling my son, huge monsters that want to beat me, and shadows with guns! What have I to not be afraid of!?"   
"Your inner demons."   
Before she had a chance to question him further, those two officers appeared behind them, panting from their run. Wiping the sweat from his brow, the older officer tried to explain to her, "Ma'am, it's too dangerous to be off on your own. You have to come with us."   
The younger officer, after a short moment, noticed Richard standing there and demanded, "Who are you? What's going on?"   
He merely explained, "The town is being consumed by darkness."   
Covering his face with a hand for a moment, the older officer sighed and told the two civilians, "Okay, you two are comin' with us. I don't want anyone wanderin' around out here in this situation. All right?"   
Richard looked at the vehicle, then at the police, asking, "Is this your car?"   
The younger officer told him, "Yeah, but it's stopped running."   
"Hmm." The mysterious man placed both of his hands upon the hood of the police car for several moments, then removed them; what was he doing? "Try it now."   
Sighing again, the older officer opened the driver's side and tried starting the vehicle. To their amazement, the engine roared to life. Deciding not to even bother asking how it happened, he simply ordered everyone into the car.   
The younger officer held the back door open, and Richard pulled Carol in with him, despite her hesitancy. She did not want to rely on these people; why would they not leave her alone?   
Anyone glancing at the clock would have seen it read 63:71, but they started driving anyway, the older officer explaining that they would go to the police station in Central Silent Hill. Carol did not care; she only wanted to make the nightmare end, just fade away from her eyes. Why was she in Silent Hill anyway? Why had she been running? What had she done to her son that caused her to act in this way? Did it have something to do with her husband constantly beating her, that fucking asshole? Sex was little more than rape, in her opinion. She never wanted children, never wanted him in the first place. She just wanted to be alone, but then he manipulated her, married her, beat her, fucked her, impregnated her. What did she do to him? How did she get him back? Why did she run away? What did she do to try and make the pain go away? What lied at the bottom of Toluca Lake?   
When her mind finally snapped back to sensory perception, she realized they were crossing the foggy bridge of Bloch Street. What made her return to awareness was the squealing of the tires and that terrible noise of approaching spider-babies. A horrible white noise blared on the radio, even though it had been off to start with. What was happening?   
The car was starting to swerve out of control due to the older officer's fright and the pouring rain. Glancing through the windshield, Carol could make out the faint outlines of dozens of those damn spider-babies, as well as a few giant monsters. All of them tried to get inside the car as the four of them attempted desperately to pass the demons.   
The older officer shouted, "I can't believe it. Just like in Vietnam, bursting out of the ground, covered in plants, everywhere..."   
Looking very pale, the younger officer corrected him, "No, they look--like--bodies--zombies..." He finally stopped to vomit out of the window, though some of it came back inside from the frantic turns, filling the car with a noisome smell.   
Carol was near-delirious; what were they seeing? Why were the demons different in their eyes? One of the spider-babies leapt and rolled up the car, cracking the windshield in its suicidal movement; suicide...   
Richard suddenly shouted, "There's no need to panic! Just stay calm! They're not real!"   
That was not enough for everyone else, for the car moved dangerously, until it finally lost a tire and spun in a few circles, coming to a complete stop at last; the police car was dead. The fog was growing thicker, and the rain seemed powerful enough to shatter the broken windshield, prompting anxiety amongst all of them, it seemed. The screams of the monsters and the sounds of their movements floated through the air and sent chills through their bodies.   
The older officer ultimately lost control and darted out into the fog, screaming before long. His partner hurried after him, but his cries to come back, and eventual fear of the monsters, were soon silenced before Richard could yell for them to go to the police station. Gunshots roared outside, but Carol feared, in one sense or another, that they were not coming from the officers. Breathing heavily, she abruptly found herself being pulled out of the car and into the terrible fog, her clothes becoming soaking wet and forming tightly to her body, hanging as much as possible.   
"Where the fuck are we going!?" she screamed at him, realizing she had no way to remove her hand from his.   
Although there seemed to be no way to ascertain direction whatsoever, Richard shouted matter-of-factly, "The police station is just ahead! We can make it!"   
With those words, the screams of the older officer suddenly ended, and the two of them became the last survivors of Silent Hill. Carol had no tears to shed for them, only herself. Her feet pained her from their dead run, but at last they reached the station. Richard swung the large doors open and pushed her inside with him, slamming and locking them behind himself. He breathed a large sigh of relief once certain they were safe within the relative darkness of this new place.   
Carol gazed slowly around; there seemed to be no one here, plus few actual items to be found. A bulletin board on one wall held reports regarding White Claudia, but nothing of importance was here; they were all alone. Sighting a pack of cigarettes and a lighter upon a bench, she wandered over and lit one. Taking a long drag and exhaling a cloud of smoke first, she asked him absently, "So what now?"   
Staring off opposite her, Richard muttered, "There's no hope for the officers, only you. Carol, you must confront your demons."   
Exhaling again, she shouted angrily, "Hey, fucker, I'm not going out there again! I don't even know why I'm here! I don't want to be in Silent Hill! I don't want to be anywhere!"   
Sighing, the mysterious man opened one of the doors, the other side too dim to tell what was inside. "Come on. Let's go."   
Smoke passing before her eyes, she taunted with disdain, "Why? Y' gonna rape me in there? Just like he always did? After the first few months, I wasn't always as eager to fuck him, so he would start forcing me, just pushing me against the wall and screwing me right there. After a while, I was so afraid of him, but I couldn't just run away because I was too scared, and I thought maybe he would change. Maybe that was just a delusion, but I knew I couldn't survive on my own. I would never be able to live on my own without him paying for everything."   
His expression unwavering, Richard told her, "It wasn't your fault."   
Walking forward, not caring any more, Carol said, "It doesn't matter. I still took it and I still take it."   
She stepped through the doors into the darkness. With the sealing of the room, she realized this was now her bedroom. How could she possibly be here? She whipped around quickly, but found Richard no longer standing there. Where was he now? She turned back around, only for her face to be smashed by a fist. Her blood flew through the air as she tumbled to the white carpet already stained from numerous attacks. His voice spouting obscenities came to her, and she started to cry. Why was her husband here? Why was he beating her again?   
A sharp kick removed all the air from her lungs, her cigarette flying off somewhere. He growled at her, "Good-fer-nothin' bitch, never doin' anything right."   
Another kick, and another; he started to grope at her clothes, but she quickly turned over and--it was one of those huge monsters! Just like her husband... Why was he haunting her!?   
One of its huge arms struck her face, sending more of her blood about the room. She rolled as fast as her body would allow out of the way and to her feet, darting for the second door of the room. Her present thoughts said that it was the bathroom, but her body moved her toward it, as if it would certainly teleport her somewhere else. She contorted her body to the door as she flung it open and sealed it shut. Her breathing was heavy as her face remained plastered to the door, fear and pain ruling her. Why was she imagining her husband in this way? Had she warped him in her mind into a hulking monster, exactly what he was? Damn pig; she wanted to kill him. She wanted to kill him!   
"You can't think that way. You must remove the hate from your heart." Richard's voice implored her from behind. She turned around to find herself standing in a long hallway, the end too faint to see clearly in the darkness. He was standing there with her, sorrow beginning to become his dominant expression.   
A scowl on her face, she demanded, "What do you want?"   
Seemingly truthful, he replied, "To help you. If you are ever to leave this place, you must excise the hatred in your heart and repent for your sins."   
Right; she brushed him off and walked forward, telling him sarcastically, "Great preaching. How next are you going to save my soul?"   
"Please, you have to listen!"   
"No!" Carol screamed against him and started running forward, streaming through the darkness and into the unknown. She wasted no time in opening the door at the end and entering it. What awaited her, to her shock, was the bathroom where it all happened with her son. She saw a phantom of herself kneeling there in front of the tub, holding that wretched infant in her arms, only now its image was distorted, mimicking those spider-babies with its decay. The mind of that woman was filled with twisted thoughts, and she held the child beneath the water as it kicked and screamed. But there was no one to save it, because the mother hated it and wanted it dead and hated the father and wanted revenge upon his pride and joy that he made her take care of completely and suck the life from her and consume her life.   
She killed that child; she had wanted to kill it for so long. Was that why she had continued to see it chase after her all this time in Silent Hill? Was that why she had been afraid all that time that the police would be chasing after her and mean to take her in and try to kill her? Was that why she ran away from her home in fear of police and her husband and came to Silent Hill because it was so nearby and because the lake was there and because she would end her suffering in the same way she quenched her hatred for her child in the purifying depths of the water...? What?   
Carol buried her face in her hands for a moment, trying to understand her distorting thoughts, then removed them. The room was no longer the same, instead being a solid metal room with only two doors separated by two feet of distance. Richard stood between them, and his clothes had changed to a sort of robe, or whatever it was called that a priest or someone of the like might wear. What was he doing? Who was he?   
He tried to explain to her, "You died, Carol. You drowned yourself in the cursed waters of Toluca Lake after you drowned your child." That could not be true. "You may be dead, but you can still save your soul. You must repent for what you did. You have to accept what happened in your life and not carry hatred within your heart."   
What the...? Fucker; she spit upon his shoes, shouting, "You think you know all about me!? You lie! I don't believe I'm dead, or believe in life, or--" Her thoughts started to become confused, and she became disoriented for a slight moment, but it only interrupted her speech for the briefest moment. "whatever. I'll never forgive that asshole for what he did to me! I'm glad I killed that fucking seed of mine! That filthy germ, that pest! Asshole deserves all the pain he can get! And you, you son of a bitch! Who the fuck do you think you are!? You can't save me! Let me out!"   
So there was nothing he could do... Bowing his head in defeat, he gestured to the door on his left, saying, "It's this one."   
Stomping her feet, Carol shoved past him and marched right into that room without even stopping to look first, and the door closed quickly behind her...   
Richard stood there, alone; he was consumed with sorrow, for he had failed to save her. The door through which the woman had passed was becoming pounded upon now from inside, but it would never open. Resigning to both their fates, he opened the other door and stepped through it. The room he had known to be there was separated by metal bars resembling a jail cell. On one side was him and a staircase leading up, the end obscured by darkness; on the other side was a small cot and Carol screaming to be set free. She saw him now and tried to grab him through the bars, howling that she would kill him and rip him apart. She would never leave this hell, whether it was Silent Hill or the bottom of darkness.   
He turned around and started the long ascent up, a white, shimmering aura displaying the angel wings upon his back. Behind him, Carol continued her frantic caterwauling: "You son of a bitch! Let me out! I'm not dead! I'll kill you! Don't leave me here! Let me out! I'll kill you! Fucker! Bastard! God damn you!"   
  
  
AN: I completed this story at long last. It didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, but hopefully it's good enough to gain some pleasent reviews from people. I think the monsters were explained well enough, but if the storyline was too vague for people, I'll add a little note here later to explain it. If you liked this story, check out my original horror novels-in-progress, Sunrise and Lack Of Dreaming. Thank you very much. ^_^ 


End file.
